The land had been completely destroyed. From the cities to the wilderness, nothing was the same. Lights flickered on and off against the concrete of what was once a busy street. The virus that had overtaken the area had completely turned the city into a ghost town, but Ellis knew better. He knew the citizens of this town didn't just die from the virus, they were sickly and bloodthirsty.

There were traces of them all over the place. His left boot sunk into a pile of greenish puke and he turned his head away in disgust as he loaded his gun. From this day forward, he knew his life wouldn't be normal anymore.

Usually on Monday morning he was headed to his shop, enjoying the crisp fall air of another October. He worked at a mechanic shop in Savannah, Georgia and, just a day ago, everything was normal. He had went to bed the night before thinking he could go about his life as normal, but he was awoken in the middle of the night by a window breaking in the living room of his small house.

It had been all over the news. The virus had been contracted by a group of scientists in Columbia, South America. A female scientist was bitten by an infected monkey and it seemed to have a profound affect on humans, turning them into bloodsucking monsters who had only one urge to eat human flesh.

Ellis' anger was fueled by the fact that one of these sickly monsters had gotten to his beloved mother, and it was his job to terminate her. He had jumped out of bed and grabbed his hunting rifle, but by the time he found his mother she had already been bitten.

She reached out for him to save her as the thin, sickly thing took a bite out of her leg, but he knew there was nothing he could do but shoot both of them. Tears stung his eyes as he squeezed the trigger and shot the puking zombie in the head, spattering blood all over the room, and then he turned to his mother.

Her skin had turned pale white, and her eyes had sunk back into her head. She cried out a terrible cry as she reached her hand towards her only son, but he knew it was no longer a cry for help. She was thirsty for his flesh.

He looked away, squeezing the trigger on the gun, he took her life for the mercy of her soul.

The sun had now risen and it was shining brightly over the Georgia horizon. Leaves crunched beneath his boots as he walked down the street, his gun resting on his shoulder. It hadn't sunk in yet, but Ellis knew he was probably the only one who hadn't turned into a cannibal.

Even if he did kill every zombie in sight and managed to survive this apocalypse, he'd probably live out the rest of his life alone. He was an attractive twenty-three year old man who loved to talk to anyone and everyone, and he couldn't imagine going to the rest of his life without a soul to communicate with.

He hadn't even had a girlfriend in the past three years! For all he knew, she was either dead or turned into a zombie herself. Sometimes he wondered why he couldn't just turn into a monster himself, but he was immune to virus somehow and he could only pray that there were other people close-by that were immune as well.

Some would have called him lucky, but Ellis didn't feel very lucky right now. He had to take his own mother's life, and in order to be rescued -if rescue was even possible- he would probably have to kill more people he once knew.

Right now, he didn't know what to expect. He ran his fingers through his soft, brown hair and replaced his hat over his head. His rifle hung to his side as he toyed with the trigger on his pistol, ready for any of the infected to charge out at him from one of the stores, local bars, pool halls, or alleyways as he walked by.

"I'm invincible…" Ellis stated out to the quiet city, as if telling the zombies if they try to kill him, they'd be sorry. His blue eyes were shaded by his baseball cap from the glaring sun, but he was temporarily blinded by it, when one of those sickly things ran out from behind a dumpster and charged for him.

His heart leapt in his throat as he pointed the gun at the zombie and pulled the trigger three times, watching the body as it twitched their on the pavement.

"Son of a bitch," he said, kneeling down to it and looking into the lifeless white eyes of the male form.

Ellis didn't know where he was going, he wasn't sure if there was anywhere to go. He didn't know what to expect. Was the next city infected? Was the next state? He didn't know. Ellis wasn't exactly the type of guy who stayed well-informed.

A stray newspaper whipped behind him and he turned around, his gun in hand, ready to shoot another zombie, but he didn't see anything. His tensed muscles relaxed a little and let out a small sigh of relief.

"Ya'll come and get me if you want it," he said, his voice was shaky and the southern drawl, that so many woman in his town always found charming, was apparent. But his good looks and cute accent wouldn't charm a zombie, and he knew that.

Ellis was in real danger if he didn't find some friends soon, but how easy was it to find friends in a small Georgia town during an apocalypse? Not very, he assumed.

The only sound was his boots on the asphalt.

Crouk!

A bullet barely missed his left shoulder. Quickly he turned around, and pointed his hunting rifle towards the unseen source. His mind was racing. Can zombies really wield guns? He never thought that was possible before in the past, but then again, he didn't know too much to begin with, except how to fix a car and ask a pretty girl for her phone number.

"Alright, you son of a bitch, come out from where ever you are, or I'll be forced to go lookin' for ya." He commanded, stepping towards the source of the gunfire even more.

"Wait!" He heard one man shout, holding out his hand to stop his partner from firing again. "It's a survivor! He's not infected! Don't shoot him!"

Ellis lowered his gun as he saw two male figures appear from behind an alleyway, bodies of dead zombies in their wake and their guns smoking. He removed his hat to get a better look at them, and realized they were indeed still human.

"Relax! We are survivors just like you!" The taller man said, he was dark-skinned with slanted eyes and he held a rifle at his side. "I'm Brock. I'm a doctor in this area and this is my friend Nelly, he's a law enforcement officer and you are, Sir?"

"Ellis," he responded, his mouth felt like cotton. He couldn't believe there were other survivors! He had thought he was the only one. "Boy, am I glad to see ya'll? I thought I was the only one left in this place. Well, the only one who hadn't turned into a zombie. Ya'll got others with ya? Any girls?"

Brock just laughed and shook his head. "I sent my wife up to Canada as soon as I heard about the apocalypse headed north from South America. Nelly's wife went with her, so I'm sorry to say there is no women in our band of two."

"Shucks," Ellis said, clutching onto his gun. "I was hoping to meet a pretty lady who didn't want to chew my face off. Not having much luck out here today, though. Every girl I meet is a dang zombie!"

Brock laughed and patted Ellis on the shoulder. "Well, once we get rescued, and we will, I'm sure there will plenty of ladies around for you. Right now, we have zombies to kill and there is safety in numbers. So, are you in or out, Kid?"

He looked down at his gun, then back up at the two of them. "I'm in!"

Nightfall had enveloped around them and Ellis had calculated they had killed at least 12 dozen zombies by then. No one had been seriously injured in the horde they encountered, Nelly just had a small scratch on his arm, but he promised he was immune.

Still, Ellis kept a close eye on him.

Brock seemed to have taken the role of the leader, since he was quite a bit older than Ellis and Nelly both. He protected both of them from the horde, but all Ellis could think about was his wife.

Growing up in the deep south as he did, he had a profound respect for women. He didn't want her to suffer the loss of her husband, so Ellis did what he could to help out as much as possible. After all, he thought he was invincible, and after what he had survived today he was pretty sure that he still was.

The creek beside them babbled quietly and strangely peacefully as they walked along it's banks, looking for a safe house to rest in. Ellis wasn't tired, but he wanted to feel safe again. He wanted to be barricaded behind a heavy steel door and he wanted sleep. He didn't think he could ever sleep again after what he saw this morning with his mother, but he could tell his body was asking for sleep.

"I think there is a safe house up ahead." Brock said, straining to see in the dark. "We can rest there for the night and I can help heal any wounds you two might have. Ellis?"

"Yes?" He asked, almost afraid of the older man.

"You bring any food with ya?" He asked, curiously.

"No, Sir," Ellis replied respectively. "I rushed out of the house this morning. I-I didn't really think about food much."

Grunting, Brock led them along. "That's fine. I've got something to hold us over for the night, but we're going to have to find a store in the morning. Zombies don't care too much for normal food, so I'm sure there is plenty for the taking."

Ellis was nervous, trudging through the tall grass and open fields. Even the creek scared him. He had always watched zombies movies where the monster pops up from the water and pulls the survivors down into it. He kept picturing that happening over and over in his mind and he stepped away from the creek.

If one did jump out, he'd have more time to react before he was dragged under if he was far away.

Suddenly, the surface of the water bubbled and Brock stopped, pointing his gun towards the bubbles. Someone or something was under there and they were trying to get back up to the surface.

"Everyone stand back," Brock instructed them and Ellis and Nelly did what they were told, both of them aiming their guns towards the bubbles that traveled closer and closer to the bank of the creek.

The surface of the water broke, and something rose out of it. Ellis didn't hesitate to fire, but soon realized he had made a huge mistake.

"Ow! What the hell?" It was a female's voice and Ellis dropped his gun.

She climbed out onto the bank, wincing at the pain in her arm and adjusting the hat on her head. "Which one of you idiots decided to shoot me in the arm?" She asked, tapping her foot and giving Brock a dirty glare.

"Uh…Uh…I…" Ellis cleared his throat and picked up his gun sheepishly. "It was me."

"You idiot! Why would you go and do a stupid thing like that?" She questioned, ringing out her hair and pulling at her soaked clothes. "Are you blind?"

"Calm down, Miss," Ellis begged her, frowning. "I didn't mean to. I thought you were a zombie. Here, let me take your hat. I'll-"

She slapped his hand away. "Don't touch my hat! You keep those clumsy hands off any part of me. Do you hear me?" She pulled a rifle from her side and pointed it at him.

Brock grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back. "Whoa! Calm down, little lady. Ellis just jumped the gun a little…literally. He didn't mean to shoot you, and your wound isn't that bad. I can heal you once we reach the safe house, which isn't that far. We can spend the night there and head out in the morning."

In the dark, Ellis couldn't see her that well, but he could tell she was blond and her eyes were light colored. She was slim, youthful and attractive and from what he could tell, she had quite a temper. He found himself smiling before too long.

The young woman seemed hesitant to follow them. "Well, I actually…have to…go alone."

Nelly cleared his throat and shook his head. "It's not safe. The bigger our party is, the safer we are. Especially if we are all immune. You…are…immune to the T-virus right?"

"What?" She asked, seemingly confused.

"The T-virus," Nelly repeated, glancing over at Ellis. "It's what causes humans to become sick and crave human flesh. Most people aren't immune to it, but there is some who are. All three of us are. Are you?"

The young woman nodded her head slowly. "Yea, I'm definitely immune." She replied, after a moment, making it a point to stay far away from Ellis. There journey to the safe house was uneventful and they were all grateful for that.

Once inside, Brock immediately examined the gunshot wound that Ellis had accidentally inflicted on her, while he sat sheepishly in the corner and rummaged through Brock's food supply. "So, what's your name?" Brock asked, as he removed the bullet and plunked it down in a tray.

The young woman winced in pain. "My name's Hideko."

"Interesting name." Nelly complimented as he sat against the wall and ate a bag of greasy, salty potato chips.

"Thanks." Hideko replied back, as Brock wrapped her arm in bandages.

Ellis couldn't eat a thing. He could see now in the light just how beautiful she really was, and then he realized that any chance had had with her was shot all to hell when he fired that gun too quickly. Apparently, shooting anything that moved didn't work out for him too well that time.

"Listen, Miss Hideko," Ellis crawled towards her and sat beside her, clearly displeasing her by this move. "I-I'm real sorry for shooting you. I've been through a lot within the last twenty-four hours. I guess I'm just a little jumpy."

"All done!" Brock announced, smiling and standing up. "Uh, Nelly…" He cleared his throat and gestured towards the staircase that led to a top level of the safe house. "Remember that thing I wanted to show you."

"What thing?" Nelly asked.

Ellis looked towards Brock who was climbing the stairs. "Yea, what thing? I wanna know what it is, too."

"Uh, no you don't, Ellis!" Brock reassured him. "I think you better stay down here and…keep the lady safe." He winked, hoping he would catch the hint.

Of course, Ellis didn't catch anything except for the fact that he was being left out of something. Which was typical for him. He was usually left out of everything because no one gave him any credit for anything.

"They think I'm a typical Georgia redneck," Ellis groused, shaking his head. Then he realized something. He was alone, in a safe place with a beautiful girl who would probably be even more beautiful if she took off her hat. "I-I-"

"Ellis, it's OK," Hideko told him, reassuringly. "It was an accident."

The words seemed to be stuck in his throat. He wanted to say he was sorry, but he couldn't seem to speak. Her eyes locked with his and there was the faintest hint of a smile there on her lips. He hadn't kissed a woman in years and he found himself fantasizing about kissing her, touching her body beneath her wet clothes and running his fingers through her damp hair.

"You…must be cold," Ellis assumed, grabbing a blanket from his backpack. "I bought this with me. My mother gave me this when I was a little boy. It always made me feel comfortable." He placed it over her and she smiled.

"Thank you," Hideko said, pulling it up to her shoulders. She longed to get out of these wet clothes, but she had lost her backpack when she had fallen into the creek and even if she had clothes to change into, she couldn't change here in front of three men.

"You got a change of clothes?" He asked her, as if she read her mind and she shook her head. "No. I lost my belongings when I fell into the creek. I was attacked by a horde. I shot most of them, but some of them had jumped on me and made me lose my footing. I ended up getting the rest of them and after that, I swam until I met you guys and well…you shot me."

Without hesitation, Ellis pulled off his shirt and handed it to her. "It ain't much, but it's dry. Should keep you warm tonight. We can hang up the rest of your clothes tonight and hopefully they will be dryer in the morning."

Hideko's mouth dropped open at the sight of him. He was muscular, but not too much so. His shoulders were broad and his body was lean. The tattoo on his left arm only added to his appeal, and the fact that he had no clue what effect he was having on her made him even more attractive.

"Uhm…I…thank you," she said, but then quickly shook her head and handed the shirt back to him. "Oh, no. Ellis, I can't take your shirt from you. It's freezing out there tonight and we all need all the shelter we can get."

"It's really no problem. Here," He said, walking across the room and staking up a couple of cardboard boxes into a makeshift dressing room. "I'll give you some privacy. I'll go upstairs, even. This one time, my buddy Keith and I were in a-"

"Ellis!" A voice from above caught his attention and looked up to see Brock leaning over the rails. "You have been driving us crazy with those stupid stories all day. Let the girl can dressed in peace!"

He smiled nervously towards her as she got behind the boxes and he rushed upstairs. Hideko couldn't help but notice her heart pounded every time he looked at her.